Part 2 of the Gay Highwaymen interview with outgoing Mr. Alameda County Leather Marc “pony” Owens about race play, a controversial topic even among seriously kinky folks…

GH: What kinds of men do you want? What kind don’t you want? What kinds of men want to play this way with you? What do you think is in it for them?

MpO: I desire mostly men who are older and bigger than me. I’m a bear lover and love to worship and serve older bear types. I like the kind of Sir, Master or Daddy that will nurture you. A Top that can put you in your place and show a form of affection at the same time. I always believe that if you don’t love your slave, boy or submissive it’s an empty journey for both.

Although I enjoy serving White men because of the racial dymanic of it, I enjoy worshipping men of color too. As long as they are in a Superior position over me.

I guess I’m really not into Masters, Daddies, or Sirs that will publicly insult their submissive in front of other Tops. It always appears to me that the ones that do that are in it for themselves only. By insulting the submissive publicly they feel like they are looking great in the eyes of their peers not truly knowing that they are making them both ( Top and bottom ) look bad instead. I’ve seen Masters humilate their submissives ( not in the way we all know and love ) but in a way that leaves the submissive devastated and with a loss of self confidence.

What is in it for them? PLEASURE! Rather it’s sex, domestic servitude or what ever the Top desires from the submissive. A White Master who is into the racial scene gets great pleasure having a black slave at his feet serving them the way they desire. I believe that is what comes first and foremost.

GH: What kinds of reactions (good and bad) have you gotten from the leather (and related) communities? Support? Criticism?

MpO: I’ve gotten mostly positive reactions from the leather and related communities. I’m a member of the 15 Association. The longest-standing gay male BDSM Association in the western USA with premier BDSM players. I know many of the members that are supportive of me. And because of that they treat me that way. They get it. They understand the method of extreme BDSM in all its “non politically correct” way.

However, I understand some have criticized me for the racial kink I get into. For example I often attend the annual ‘Bootcamp’ event. It’s a camping weekend event and a place to explore and indulge in extreme S&M play. I was in a scene where I was on my hands and knees licking the boots of all the White Tops, being kicked and spat on and using racial epithets was a sensational high for me. But some members were offended by it and excused themselves from the scene before it started. Knowing what was going to happen.

This lead to intense round table discussions about my behavior and why I enjoy it so much. People who are offended by it and criticize me for it have their beliefs and I respect that. Just as much as I respect a person’s rite of passage to explore places in their fantasies and real life that gives them pleasure.

…in which the Gay Highwaymen interview Marc “pony” Owens about race play. Owens is a well-known and respected player in Northern California. He is the outgoing Mr. Alameda County Leather, and active in the Golden Gate Guards and The 15 Association. Controversial even in hardcore Leather and Kink circles, race play brings up strong emotions in both those who practice it and those who criticize it. Owens plays that way…and speaks for himself.

G.H.: What is the appeal of race play for you?

M.p.O.: It brings out the submissive in me. White dominance over blacks: it’s almost the final frontier in tabu play.

G.H.: How did you get into it?

M.p.O.: Very slowly. I always had fantasies of it. It was either 1999 or 2000 when I met my Daddies in Berkeley while cruising online and we chatted about it through instant messenger. It was so hot I finally summoned the courage to meet with one of them and explore it. It was mind blowing!

G.H.: How does race play relate, and what are the differences and similarities, to racism and historical slavery?

M.p.O.: Well regarding racism and historical slavery…The similarity is the power exchange element of it. As a black submissive you are giving Whites power over you. Most submissives like being degraded and made to feel less than human next to their Dom. I’m just using historical slavery and racism to get to the extreme level of my kind of hardcore BDSM.

G.H.: How does it relate to Verbal Abuse, Humiliation, Degradation and Trash Talk?

Many submissives like being called “Bitch” “Whore” and other degrading names. Because the power in those words hits a chord with them and turns them on. To be called Coon, Monkey or the “N” word hits a chord with me and turns me on. To be humiliated and degraded because I’m black adds to and feeds my sexual desire. In race play the similarities are the same as any other type of S&M play it’s just the difference is I’m a black person in a mostly White dominated field of BDSM and that kind of puts me in that unique position to use race play to turn my TOP on and myself. The energy is amazing when you have two people who are really into it.

G.H.: And how does it relate to the Dom/sub dynamic?

M.p.O.: Since those types of relationships are based on the Top’s beliefs that the sub is not equal to them, that goes along with the White knowing he is superior to the black. It sweetens the pot in the relationship. Blacks who want to be submissive to Whites truly want to feel they are inferior to them. That puts them in the submissive headspace they need to be in.

This good boy is presenting himself in slave position number one. A ginger otter, expect him to return demonstrating positions two through five. He needs a name. Any ideas? He wears the number 15. A sporting lad perhaps. Or could it be a reference to The 15 Association? From JoJo Mendoco, 2011.